What is a Side Hustle?

A side hustle is a way to make money outside of your day job. It allows you to make more money without waiting for that big promotion at your current job.

Having more cash also frees you from financial stress and accelerate the savings and investments to reach your goals.

It also frees you from waiting for the annual bonus and raises which barely keeps up with the inflation. Having a good side hustle could give you the freedom to pursue your passions.

You can start great side hustle today and make a few hundred or even a $1000 or more every month which can be used to:

You want to knock that student loan or the credit card debt off sooner to reduce the financial stress that comes along with it.

Planning for the wedding or a big vacation extra few hundred dollars every month could definitely help

Not being able to maximize your 401K. Side hustle income can be directed to your 401K. It will help meet retirement goals.

You can also invest in dividend stocks and start making passive income.

How to Build a Successful Side Hustle

So you have decided to start a side hustle to make that extra cash and wondering how to build a successful one. I got you you covered I have listed down the steps you need to take:

List down things of Interest

First thing first, start by listing down your interests and make sure you will only pick up a side hustle that you absolutely love.

You’ll be your own boss which means you’ll need to do this at your own time and there is no one pushing you to do it. If you are not passionate about it you won’t be successful.

Build a Schedule

Working on a side hustle means you’ll have less time to do other things in your day. I suggest you build a schedule and if you are married or have kids have conversations with them.

It is better to clear the dust and set the expectations up front. Mark the calendar with the time you want on your side hustle with the goals.

Resolve any conflict of Interests

A lot of workplaces have policies around moonlighting and it is always better to clear it up with the HR team at your workplace.

The last thing you want is having a conflict at your day job or losing your side hustle because it conflicts with your day job.

Last but not least Don’t Forget You Have a Day Job. Make sure you are not using company assets for your side hustle and not working on it during your day job.

31 Best Side Hustle Ideas You Can Start Today

The great news is many of these side hustles can be done from your home.

So whatever your motivation is? I am sure the list of the best side hustles to make money will be really useful to you.

Start a Blog – Best Online Side Hustle

Starting a blog is probably one of the best side hustles to start. If you are passionate about something you can start your blog and work your way up. You won’t start making money immediately with your blog but if you are consistent and keep up your motivation a blog can give you more income over time and can potentially replace your paycheck.

You can start a blog in your free time and work in the evenings, or weekends. As a blogger, you can decide when you work and how long you work. You are your own boss.

I’ll be straight with you blogging is a long game and only enter if you are willing to keep at it. If you are looking for a side hustle to make some extra cash blogging isn’t for you.

However, if you are interested in starting a blog, a WordPress self-hosted blog on Bluehost is the way to go. Take your first step and learn how to start a blog.

Start a YouTube Channel

Become a Rideshare Driver

The ride-sharing economy is in a boom and rapidly growing. To make more money all you need is a smartphone, car and a valid driver’s license. If you have both sign up with Uber and Lyft and get ready to pick up your first ride.

The amount of money you make from driving for rideshare depends on how much time you are willing to drive.

You can turn on or off your availability from your smartphone. The best part is you can work anytime time of the day or night.

Get a Second Job

This is the easiest way to make a side income. You already have a day job and aren’t willing to try out online side hustles or don’t want to wait a long time for your efforts to deliver results. You can find another part-time job that will pay you $1000 or more.

Start Food Delivery

After ride-share, food delivery is the new flyer in the sharing economy. You can start delivering food for Grubhub, Doordash. Just like Uber and Lyft, you can flip your availability from your smartphone.

When a customer orders food from a restaurant you have to pick up the food and deliver it to the customer. This is a great side hustle for anyone looking for an easy way to make extra money.

Sell on eBay/Amazon

One of the surest ways to make money is to start selling online on eBay Shoppers are choosing to buy online over going to the brick and mortar stores. You can cash this trend. Selling on eBay and Amazon is a fabulous way to make extra cash. The process of online selling is easier than you think.

You can start by selling the old unused stuff. Once you have success selling that you can start looking for other things to sell. The most important point is to keep your cost low such that you can make a profitable sale.

Become a Freelance Writer

If you have a passion for writing you can start writing for others. You can charge for writing blog posts and even become a ghostwriter and write books.

You can start advertising your services on websites like Freelancer, Upwork, etc.

Become a Photographer

Do you like taking pictures? You don’t have to be a professional photographer. Even if you take pictures with your smartphone you can sell them on stock photo websites.

Get Cashback when you shop – One Easy Side Hustle

Like shopping? Use cashback websites like Rakuten and cashback credit cards to earn money on every purchase.

Become a Travel Guide

If you have time and enjoy meeting new people. Becoming a guide in your city or town and help tourists go around your town. You can use Yelp and Tripadvisor to advertise your services.

Start Web Designing

If you enjoy working with computers you can learn how to design websites. Then you can pick up projects and design websites for other people. You can advertise your skills at websites like Fiverr, and Upwork.

Become a Handyman

Are you handy? Do you like fixing stuff? If yes, you can become a handyman and fix stuff for other people. A good handyman can command $40-$50 an hour.

You can pick up work from Craigslist, Handy, Taskrabbit, and Homeadvisor

Start Flipping cars

If you can fix cars than you can make good money. You can find cheap cars on craigslist or used car dealers, fix them, and sell them for a profit. This could be a great way to earn side income especially if you like fixing cars.

Become a Virtual Assistant

This is one of the most feasible ways to earn a consistent side income. The skills needed are easily learned and all the work can be done from the comfort of your own home. As a VA you can make about $25/hr.

You can become a VA without experience just start by taking a course by Kayla Sloan where she teaches aspiring VAs all the required skills and how to get paying clients.

Start Dropshipping

A dropshipping website can be a really easy side hustle as you don’t need to maintain any inventory. You can start by partnering with one or more drop shippers and promoting their products on your websites.

You can start your e-commerce store on Shopify and start dropshipping with products like Oberlo.

Side Hustle as Teacher

If you are good with Math, Science, or Computer Science you can start teaching kids. You can mix up charity along with making money where you can teach the needy kids FREE and charge the parents who can afford to pay.

Proofread to Make Money

Do you get frustrated when you see the wrong grammar used in the writing? If yes, you can become a part-time or full-time proofreader.

As a proofreader, you will help bloggers, content writers glaze up their masterpieces.

Proofreading does pay well and you are in charge of when and how much you want to work. Caitlin Pyle of Proofread Anywhere has become a full-time proofreader and has a great course to get you started.

Become an Instagram Influencer

Who doesn’t want to be famous? But the reality is not everyone gets to be a Hollywood star or a sensational singer. So how can you become famous?

Maybe you have a great fashion sense or can cook delicious meals. With social media, you can actually live your dream and build your personal brand

On Average Instagram, influencer charges $200-400 per post. The price you can charge depends on the strength of your brand and how big your fanbase is.

You will not be able to monetize from day one. But if you keep at it and consistently post content that strengthens your brand you will eventually reach there.

Bonus Side Hustle Tip: Tiktok the new kid on the block could be used to make side income as well.

Become a Dog Walker

Dog’s are man’s best friend and if you like being around dogs. You can start a dog walking business where you’ll get paid to walk and train the dogs.

Rent Your Extra Room – Airbnb

If you have an extra room(s) in your house you can start renting it out on Airbnb or HomeAway. This way you can make money and get a chance to meet new friends.

The good thing is you can decide when you want to have the guests in your home and what price you want them to pay.

Manage Social Media for Small Business

Social media is a must-have for all businesses now and business owners don’t have time to manage their social media campaigns. You can learn easy skills and put them into practice.

The typical work involved in managing social media includes:

Growing social media community

Promoting posts and creating digital ads

Testing different variations of ads and measuring the impact of each of them

Managing client relationships.

You shouldn’t underestimate the power of social media. Pinterest is known to generate $2 in profit for every $1 spent and FB has over 1.5B users which can’t be ignored by any entrepreneur.

If you enjoy spending time on social media and are willing to learn how to promote a brand or product on social media. This is a massive opportunity for you.

Write an Ebook

Do you enjoy writing? But don’t want to start a blog and spend time and effort promoting your writing and generating traffic to your website.

Creating an e-book and selling it as a Kindle book on Amazon using Kindle Self Publishing might be the right thing for you to do.

You don’t have to wait for months to find an agent, negotiate a book deal and go through the hassle of traditional book publishing.

With Amazon Kindle Publishing you can do it all by yourself and the best part is:

You get to keep more money

Amazon is the place to go when it comes to ebooks

and it’s 100% FREE (you don’t pay Amazon to publish the book)

Bonus: If you have your own blog you can start selling your ebook in PDF or EPub format.

Side Hustle as Baby Sitter

A lot of people are busy making money and needing a daycare or babysitter is a must-have.

In the Seattle region, the average cost of daycare is $1200/month or about $12-15/hr. If you like being around kids this is a great way to make a side income with the potential of starting your own daycare business and leaving your day job.

Have a Garage Sale

We live in the middle of extreme consumerism and end up accumulating a lot of stuff.

As we get more stuff, the older stuff doesn’t get used. While this may not be a steady side hustle but you can definitely make some hard cash.

Organize a garage sale and sell the unused stuff.

Once you become good at it you can start organizing garage sales for your neighbors for a small fee.

Become an Affiliate Marketer

This is one of the most popular ways to make money. But let me be really honest with you most of the affiliate marketers don’t make a lot of money.

However, the ones who do it right can make really big.

Some of the top affiliate marketers make seven figures consistently and you can do it too. Just be realistic and stay focused.

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Disclosure: I have partnered with several merchants including Amazon and some of the links are referral links for which I may get a referral fee . Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are mine alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these merchants. You can read my full disclosure policy

About Jay Sharma

Jay is a tech geek turned into a marketing ninja and entrepreneur and is keenly passionate about educating people about financial independence and how to run a successful online business.

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About the Author

Hello, my name is Jay Sharma. I am a Personal Finance Enthusiast, Blogger, and Entrepreneur.

I will show you how you can save money and earn extra moneyby investing in dividend stocks, starting a money making blog, rental income, or an online business.

I love educating people about financial independence and how to run a successful online business. I am willing to share my experiences with my readers via this blog. Just bear in mind you need more than one way to make extra money to reach financial freedom and early retirement.